"In the 1950s, the pop art explosion called into question the hierarchy between design made for mass culture versus fine art. From Marcel Duchamp's readymades to Andy Warhol's soup cans, artists (and the institutions that supported them) began to blur the divide between these two expressions of creativity, proposing that work using mass media sources could belong in a gallery or a museum. Since then, the two worlds have continued to dance between each other, with expectations of quality and creativity continually rising for commercial art and design, while fine artists often draw from commercial art techniques.

The creative overlaps of fine art and design are the subject of a panel discussion this Thursday at the Minneapolis Institute of Art's MAEP Galleries.."

Full text here.See next blog post for full details about the event- This Thurs 12/16!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Is there a line to be drawn between fine art and design? Is one inherently more valuable to our culture than the other? Does the world of fine art have any influence over how you view your world and the media you view it through? Join the artists of Flourish and the panel of experts they have invited in exploring the answers to these and many other questions regarding the roles of artists and designers in the wild west of modern media today.

Each of them will be sharing his or her professional expertise and unique insights on the show. MAEP coordinator Christopher Atkins will moderate the panel and open up the discussion to the audience. Feel free to jump into conversation and bring along your questions!

The discussion will be followed by an informal reception with the artists and panel members in the galleries and many other fun things to see and do throughout the museum in conjunction with the MIAs Free "Third Thursdays".

This should be a lot of fun and a good chance to mix it up with the artists and pros at the show. We hope to see you there!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program takes a notably populist turn in its latest show to open at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The four-artist bill includes some of the most recognizable young or youngish names from the local arts scene: Erika Olson Gross, Jennifer Davis, Terrence Payne and Joe Sinness.

Sinness, who draws colored-pencil still lifes of tchotchkes and flowers floating in white space, is paired with Olson Gross, who delicately charts a physical and emotional landscape in pencil and gouache. In the next room over, Davis explores her familiar fantasy world, filled with dewy animal faces and dendritic growths, while Payne captures the fleeting thoughts of young women treading uncertain social territories in oversized and stylized portraits.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Pretty (tough) in Pink"...What all four have in common is meticulous drawing styles and abundant illustrational talent. Working with colored pencil, oil pastel, watercolor and other drawing media, they employ graphic devices (ornamental patterns, flattened imagery, linear designs, lots of white space) to narrative effect. Their drawings read like "pictures," in that they hint at stories, relationships or emotional states..."

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

And thank you, l'etoile!"Psych dramas, melancholy, apathy and double-entendres, tonight's MAEP group exhibition promises it all and then some, in a visually pleasing fashion, of course. Featuring new works by four Minneapolis artists – Jennifer Davis, Erika Olson Gross, Terrence Payne and Joe Sinness – the exhibit includes Davis' familiar hybrid cast of animal/monster/human experiencing the trials and tribulations of fantasy life and lost innocence; Gross' bucolic landscape sculpture and illustrative paintings; Payne's dark humored pastel narratives; and Sinness' baroque, hyper-realistic drawings for a hodgepodge of chimera-esque local art. On view through January 2nd."

"Terrence Payne has lived and worked in the Minneapolis area for the past fifteen years, building a body of unique and thought provoking work while exhibiting at galleries and universities throughout the united states. His work can be found in private, corporate and collegiate collections throughout the world. Terrence founded Rosalux gallery eight years ago to give local emerging and mid career artists an opportunity to exhibit their work in an environment that would bring them higher visibility while nurturing their artistic callings without the limitations imposed by many commercial galleries. Serving as gallery director since its inception , he has helped over sixty local artists further their art careers through their involvement with Rosalux..."